Re-Opening Of Spoiled Rotten Designs!

I am so excited to get things going again with my Etsy shop! It's been a long time since I've wanted to sell something, and I couldn't be happier with my decision! Having an Etsy shop is a lot of work. Some don't realize how much time on the computer it takes to list an item and then promote it and keep it lookin' good for your viewers! ;-) Selling your work is a huge complement to me. I love putting effort into something and then letting someone take it and love it too. But, I feel like it's an even bigger compliment that someone would want to buy my patterns. I've had lots of suggestions and questions about when I'm going to sell the pattern to my bags. So with lots of contemplation I decided to go for it! I'm so excited to share this pattern with everyone so you can feel the satisfaction of making something and giving it away. This pattern is so simple!
A beginner could make it if they really wanted too!

Thank you to everyone who is so supportive of my work. It means a lot. :-)

The pattern should be available by the end of this week. (So exciting!!!) There will be two different patterns you can buy. A $4 pattern or a $5 dollar pattern. One will be the simpler bag of the two, and the other will have the accent fabric and ribbon you could add.
Just depends on your taste!

Hope you enjoy!?!!

Happy weekend!
Courtney

Flower Pillow

The cuteness continues as I finish up Allie's Room. (So close!) I'm so excited for the "big" reveal! hehe Anywho, I think I'm beginning to get a little addicted to making pillows. This is the second one in just a couple of weeks and I have more plans for more! Yikes! lol

So, I had started making this pillow a few days ago and finally finished last night.

I had come across the idea at Cluck Cluck Sew . I love love love her ideas. She's one talented woman! ;-)

Here's my take on her flower pillow.



Very simple to do. You're supposed to use felt as the flower petals but I had so much fleece left over from Allie's blanket I had made a couple of weeks ago I thought I would give it a try. And wha'do ya know? It worked! And it's nice and soft. I used probably 1/3 of a yard of the fleece, a fat quarter I had left over (the green fabric) and a half a yard of some pink fabric as the back of the pillow. The flower turned out bigger than I had wanted but it's still very cute! And I made it! (smile)

Here are some images of the "making of" the pillow...



(cutting out the fleece circles)



(Getting them all together to pin on)



(Pin on, over and over again...lol)



(Sew away)

And after many layers of petals...this is what you get!




**LOVE**

Very cute and nice and easy! ;-) Now off to clean up. (The worst part about a project! ;-)

Happy Friday!

Courtney

One of these days...

One of these days...

One of these days I will kiss my husband for like an hour.

One of these days I will take a vacation.

One of these days I will get pedicure.

One of these days I really will quit Diet Dr. Pepper.

One of these days I will go to bed before midnight.

One of these days I will potty train my baby girl.

One of these days it will be my birthday.

One of these days I will finally lose my last 20 pounds.

One of these days it will be my anniversary.

One of these days I will take my husband on a date to the movies.

One of these days I will deep clean my whole house.

One of these days I will organize all of my crafts and fabric and make them pretty.

One of these days I will make another baby.

One of these days I will plan a schedule.

One of these days I will re-open my Etsy Shop.

One of these days I will have to say good bye to my husband again for another deployment.

One of these days I will get up on time and do YOGA every morning.

One of these days I will play the piano again.

One of these days I will completely stop biting my nails.

But...not today.

Courtney

Cowboy Crayons

So our ward is getting ready for our Super Saturday and I was tasked with putting together some of the crafts. Today I finished my first project. Take a look.

They are too cute. And your little boy will love to find them in his stocking on Christmas morning...and you will love how cheap they are to make! :-)


A box of Crayons (maybe a $1)
Sticks from your back yard (free)
One cute husband to drill holes in the center (A few kisses and hugs will do! ;-)



Are these SO cute. I can't take all of the credit. (They weren't my idea.) I just got the pleasure of putting them together! :-) Well...Tim did most of the work actually. lol But, he's been kind enough to let me take most of the credit! ;-)



I'm sure most of these like all crayons will be lost by the time Christmas morning is over but the idea is a lot of fun. And I'm sure some little boys will LOVE them.

Happy Crafting!

Courtney

Liquid Laundry Soap

Don't you just love being Self Reliant?

Anywho, the other night at Enrichment we had a laundry soap making class. I've never tried to make laundry soap. (I tend to be pretty picky about my laundry soap.) But, this soap is amazing. And it's WAY cheap! I haven't actually bought the ingredients yet for myself. But I did catch a glimpse at someone else's receipt and they did great for how much laundry soap they got! $10 (with tax) for 6 gallons of laundry soap! I mean hello! Amazing! hehe

Plus, it doesn't "sudz" so you can use it in a front loading washer and know it won't hurt it.

Okay, onto the recipe!


1/3 Bar Fels Naptha Soap (5.5 oz bar)
1/2 Cup Washing Soda (not baking)
1/2 Cup Borax Powder
1 TBSP Essential Oil (You can find them at Michael's)
(2) 1 Gal Plastic jugs with lids

Step One-
Grate soap (we used cheese graters) and put into large saucepan with 6 cups of water over medium heat. Heat until water and soap melt.
Step Two-
Add washing soda, borax and oil. Stir until oil is dissolved. Set timer for 5 minutes over heat and stir occasionally. Remove from heat and let sit another 5 minutes.
Step Three-
Using a funnel put 1/2 of the mixture in each 1 gal jug. Fill each jug 1/2 way with hot water and shake. Finish filling the jug to the top with hot water, and shake again.
Step Four-
Set aside for 24 hours. And when soap is gelled and looks like egg whites your soap is finished!


Use 1/3 to 1/2 cup per load. (Depending on size)
Optional- Use 1/2 cup Vinegar to act as a softener for your clothes

Some of the lady's chose to buy a 5 gallon bucket and mix everything together and others (like me) chose to just use a 2 quart juice container. Personally, I'm glad I used the smaller containers so it's easier to pour into my mixing cup and re-shake since sometimes the soap and water separate...

Have Fun!! :D

She's One Busy Bee

We've been nice and busy this past week! We got to go down to the Tri-Cities area and spend some time with Tim's family. Tim spent the majority of his time out on the boat fishing with his uncle and I got to do card making with Regan while Allie hung out with Michaela and Jordan. Then the next day Tim did more fishing and Allie and I snuck off with Melissa. She even treated me to a pedicure while she took Allie out for lunch. Did I mention it was Tim and I's birthday's? And that we got to see Eclipse? Best movie out of all 3 of them. The acting was WAY better, the special effects were awesome and they actually looked "pretty" instead of really washed out "fake" vampires. I'm excited for Breaking Dawn. :-)

Anywho, even though we were only there for 2 1/2 days Allie was one Busy Bee! Here are some pictures from her adventures this week...

She Swam just about every chance she could...

She drove around like Big Girls do...

We had to say hello to the Moo Cows!!

Of course we picked flowers!! ;-)

We spent a morning picking Raspberries with Melissa and Oh man did she LOVE it! :-)

So yummy!

We soaked up some summer sun...

The kitty was missing it's twin girls who were off visiting there Dad. So Allie got to step in and let the kitty snuggle and play with her...she didn't mind! hehe ;-)

She could not stay away from the horses!

Thanks for looking! Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Courtney

Toddler Blocks

This is WAY late. But the beginning of June I came across this shop on Etsy. Really cute shabby chic toys and decor for your little one. And I'd been wanting blocks for Allie to play with so she could stack them and of course throw them around a little...ya, NOT! LOL That's probably the only bad thing about them. Giving her the ability to throw in 2" blocks everywhere. And then of course trip over them when you've got a arm full of laundry! ;-)

Unfortunetly, I wasn't really happy with the seller. It took me alomst a month to get my order. :( I wrote her about 2 weeks after i put my order in and she hadn't even shipped them yet but didn't let me or any of the other buyers she had she was very overwhelmed and couldn't pay attention to her shop. So another 2 weeks later I finally got my order. BUT, I really like the blocks and the fact that it came in a cute little kit so I'm not really complaining to much. The wait just stunk. ;-)

Anywho, I thought I would do a little tutorial on how I did them. Because they were SO easy! And you can probably get everything you would need at Micheals or a local craft store.

Here's what you need:

- 2" Raw wooden blocks. (I got 12)

- 72 images to make your set.

(You can use anything from family pictures, to the letters of the alphabet)

- Glaze and Varnish

- A sponge brush to apply the Glaze and the varnish

- A file to sand the edges

Now, before you get stared lay out all of your images. And put together what you want on each block. I messed up and just started putting what I wanted on the blocks and so i have like 3 blocks that just have numbers on them instead of a mix of numbers, letters and pictures.


Then take just a little drop of some of your glaze and brush it onto your block. Then place the image you want onto the surface. Rub until all of the bubbles are gone. And repeat on all 6 sides. Let the blocks sit for a good 30 minutes before you continue.



Once you're done with that set your blocks should look like this:

Now from here you can just leave the paper the way it is and add the varnish onto it a couple of times. Wait a good 15 mintues in between each layer of it and then you would be done. Or you can follow these next directions:

Take a regular nail file and file the edges of the paper away. I liked mine file off a lot but you can do it just a little bit too. File each 6 sides and repeat on the other blocks.

Once you're done this is how your block should look. I even filed a little on top of the picture to "age" it even more. Wipe excess dust off with a dry rag and clean your work area a little.

Okay, ya with me so far? ;-)

So the last big step! You'll take the Varnish and add just a little drop again, (I would wrinse the brush out you used with the glaze first) and apply to all sides. Let sit for a good 30 minutes between applications. I applied the varnish 3 times just to make sure the paper was good and covered...

And here's your final product!

Aren't they so adorable? Well, I love them. And we've used them a lot since I put them together. This was a really fast project. Once I had everything it just took me the day. And I mean "day" by: put the varnish on, wait 30 minutes, do a load of laundry, then come back and do it again "day".

Happy Craft Day!

Courtney